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Create an Intimate Garden Space with Plantings

Create an intimate space in your garden for relaxing or entertaining with strategically placed plants and furnishings.

These narrow Temple’s Upright sugar maples (Acer saccharum ‘Temple’s Upright’) create a private seating area and block the view of an adjacent public right-of-way. The North American native can grow 6 to 12 feet wide and 50 feet tall.

A row of Scarlet Sentinel™ (Malus Scarlet Sentinel™) columnar apples back the seating wall surrounding this fire pit. The white flowers, greenish-yellow fruit blushed red and fall color add seasonal beauty and edibility to this outdoor entertainment area.

Or use a vine-covered trellis for screening in those narrow spaces. Combine several vines for added color or an extended bloom time.

This cozy sitting area is next to a busy street. The arborvitaes (Thuja occidentalis) block the noise and create a bit of privacy.

Or immerse yourself in the garden by placing a bench in one of your planting beds.

A bit more information:  Increase the health and beauty of living screens by including a variety of plants. If a pest attacks, it is less likely to kill all the plants. And it will be easier to add new plants to the mature planting. Plus, with a mix of plants you can add seasonal flowers, fall color, texture and more diverse beauty.

Upcoming
Events & Webinars


Sept. 11, 2026
Illinois State Master Gardener Conference
Rockford, IL
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Sept. 12, 2026
2026 Knowledge in Bloom Conference
Urban Ecology Center, Milw., WI
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Sept. 17, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
Fall Landscape Care and Planting

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Sept. 26, 2026
Pruning Hydrangeas & Other Shrubs
Pasquesi Home & Gardens, Lake Bluff, IL
More information

Oct. 6, 2026
Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference
La Crosse, WI
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Oct. 22, 2026
Wauwatosa Public Library
Wauwatosa, WI
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